


Unique

by Born In Captivity- Ineligible to Release (Jashasedai)



Series: Alternate Universe - Tame Racing Drivers [14]
Category: Motorcycling RPF, motogp - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe: Tame Racing Drivers, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 07:40:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9646709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jashasedai/pseuds/Born%20In%20Captivity-%20Ineligible%20to%20Release
Summary: In an AU where a secret species is used as Racing Drivers, someone has to be first into a new field.When her Racing Driver is singled out to be a guinea pig, it's not being the only woman on a grid full of men that presents the problem.  It's being the only Racing Driver on a grid full of humans.





	1. Unique

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't, read the AU summary. This will make much more sense.

**Unique**  
**1987**

The first.

It was hard being the first.

The only.

It was hard being the only.

Taru walked down the line of garages. There were stares. No one said anything, though. How could they? Not one of them understood what was going on.

Ezio looked up at them as they walked past him. His eyes lingered on Saana.

She was wearing her helmet, in the team colors, and her leathers. Just like the rest of them.

Except Saana was not human. No one ever saw her with her helmet off, no one ever saw her without Taru, except the single handler the stable had sent to make sure Taru could have breaks when she needed to. So Saana would never be unguarded.

The entire grid had been required by FIA to sign contracts of non-disclosure. Not specifically about Saana, but any of them who had experience around auto racing, they knew. Most of the mechanics knew. What kind of contract this was, and what it meant. It wasn't hard to guess who was the Racing Driver on the grid. The one who no one ever saw. The one who was never alone. The one whose team had mechanics who could easily double as bodyguards.

Saana didn't turn her head to watch Ezio as they walked, but that strange sense of connection meant Taru knew who her Racing Driver was looking at, who she was thinking about.

He was hansome, she had to admit.

Saana got jealous when Taru thought about Ezio, though, so she tried not to.

She knew what Saana meant when she said he had a head for racing lines. Saana knew what she meant when she said he looked nice in jeans.

For some reason, Saana won the argument about who could look at him and who could not.

Taru didn't think about that.

It was just as well. Let Saana have her dreams. The stables were lonely for her, and when Taru came to get her after breaks, it was like she'd gone crazy with the aloneness. The other Racing Drivers couldn't understand her. Couldn't understand what they did. Racing Drivers were literal creatures, and couldn't really comprehend much outside their own experience, as far as Taru could tell. Saana couldn't, anyway, and when she tried to explain her love of motorcycles to them, it was like trying to explain rainbows to the colorblind.

Most of the time Saana only had eyes for the motorcycle.

They reached their own garage and she greeted Sleek with a slow stroke across her gas tank.

Taru didn't miss Saana signing, [I missed you,] against the bike's skin as though it could feel, but not see her.

[She wants tuned,] Saana signed to Taru. She ran a hand along the powerful engine. [Before the race.]

Taru grabbed the toolbox off the bench at the back of the garage, and headed for the bike.

"Hey," One of the mechanics said, coming across the garage to her, "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to tighten the belts."

"You can't."

"Well, I CAN, I'm a perfectly good mechanic. This IS what I do for a living."

"No, it's not. What you DO for a living is deal with...her." They'd all learned quickly not to refer to Saana as IT.

"I can deal with her AND tighten belts."

"You are not a mechanic for this team."

Taru sighed. "Fine." She pushed the toolbox at him. "You tighten them, then."

He put the toolbox on the bench behind him and stood hands on hips. "The belts are fine like they are."

Taru put her hands on her hips right back at him. "She says they need to be tightened."

"She's not a mechanic for this team, either."

"No, she's the motorcycle expert. She is also the pilot. It IS her job to give her team feedback about how the machine is running."

"It's running fine."

[Belts need tightened.] Taru didn't even have to see Saana behind her gesture this at the mechanic.

[The belts are fine,] he gestured back at her, sidelining Taru and beginning to argue with Saana directly.

Taru smirked and stepped to the side. Racing Drivers were born to tell their mechanics what was what. Now that she had him treating Saana like any other pilot, Saana was perfectly capable of getting results.

Indeed, it was only a few minutes before the belts were being tightened and the engine was being checked per the rider's instructions.

Being the first wasn't easy.

It was worth the effort, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it worth it?


	2. Chapter 2

**Called Out**   
**1988**

Rain dripped down Taru's leathers onto her fisted hands. She squeezed her hands against the cold. Saana was warm, safe, inside. Taru's lips spread, showing her teeth. Was it a smile? A grimace? The man watching her swayed backwards. Good instincts, that one. No wonder the Spaniard had spotted Saana as inhuman.

"So are you going to tell, or not?" Her voice was raw from the cold, and tight with emotion. How dare he confront her like this? At night, on the track, in the open. She watched the greasy light on the surface of the runnels that ran down the banking of the track, pooling at the bottom of the corner where they stood on the shoulder. _As if I have a choice to bring her or not._ She thought, snorting at the irony.

ALEX was complaining that she'd brought Saana here. As if it was Taru's idea to take her away from her home, from the karting she'd loved. Been happy with? Been contented with? Had she been any of those things? After all, she'd stared more and more often lately, confiscated the mopeds that came to pick her up trackside after any crash.

The girl huffed.

"So what do you want, Alex? You want me to go? Take her and go? What is this chat supposed to accomplish? This isn't rad for me, either."

"I...you just...is not fair, you bring her, she is faster, she is stronger, she is different. You are adults playing with children and you ask why it should be unfair. Her kind is unfair." He ran his gloved hands through his wet hair. He was wearing nice, tailored driving gloves. Taru was a little angry that he was ruining them by having them out here in the wet. He didn't even consider the cost of a little pair of driving gloves. Spoiled bastard.

"Yeah, I will stand on my head. I will make the world fair for you, so you might win races. That will make you happy, yes? You will be a happy little boy for winning? I have no time for this. You be quiet." She pointed a finger at him. It was pale from the cold, ungloved, unlike his. She turned and her boots slid step by step in the gravel when she made her way up the camber of track, trying to get to high ground so she wouldn't have to walk in the stream.

"What will you do if I don't?" His voice came thinly behind her, like it was coming from a long way off. A little boy. A long way off.

She turned over her shoulder. He was standing there with his shoulders slumped, drenched with rain and defeat.

"I won't have to do anything, Alex. The company will do it for me." Her own voice was clear with confidence, now. She had nothing to fear from this man. His kind was already scheduled for extinction. Humans would soon be ground out by the increasing number of Riders. Like they had been in every other area of motorsport. Last of a dying breed. She didn't fear him.

She didn't even have to feel sorry for him.

He would see the end before his career was even over.

Served him right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it fair?


	3. Alone

**Alone**   
**1989**

  
It was raining again the next time Alex grabbed her wrist and demanded to meet with her. She twisted her hand out of his grip with an equal twist of her mouth into a sneer.

"What do you WANT, Alex? What NOW? Can't you leave me alone?"

"Taru," His voice was low and harsh. "I am scared for you. You do not know what you're getting into." He looked both ways. They were at the side of a bustling corridor. Mechanics and team members were passing, paying them no attention, yet. They would start to, if two riders stood here snarling at each other in the open. "Come here," he started to pull her down a side hall.

A thrill spiked through her belly and fire lit in her eyes.

He saw it, because he stopped pulling. He composed himself. He inclined his head to her and gestured an invitation. "Please, I would like to speak to you privately. Misses, please." His eyes narrowed, shamed by being forced to beg her.

She flicked her eyebrows up and stepped down the corridor with him.

When they were out of earshot of the main hallway, but still in plain sight, he spoke again. "I have heard people speak of what FIA does to the people they make their own. You should be careful. Maybe should get out while you can do so. If you are very fond of your girl, you could perhaps take her with you. I am sure they would allow this."

Her mouth opened. How stupid he was. He believed he knew about her situation. The magnitude of his ignorance made her want to sit down on the floor and shake her head at his stupidity. She said so.

"What? You cannot be so a part of them that they will not let you go?"

"Why do you care?" She shook her head at him. As if to say "Don't."

He would get his.

He looked down. Embarrased. "I speak with her at times. With the hand signs."

Taru's lip curled. _Fucker. What a scheming fox._ She pushed into his space, not bothering to touch him. "Leave her alone," she stated. No orders needed. It was just what he must do.

He looked up. He was actually stricken. What the hell was going on with him?

She just stared to reinforce her point. 'Saana,' she called in her head to her partner. She sent a picture of Alex. 'This one. What have you been doing with him?' She was nearly running to the car park.

Saana had started sending a feeling of happiness when Taru brought him up, but as the accusation came across, stopped. She was concerned, instead. 'Why is Alex making you mad?'

She knew his name.

'What has he been telling you?! That you can be FREE? That you can be with HIM? You can't! They won't let you. He won't even be riding, soon enough. You will be here, riding, long after he and all the other human riders are gone.'

'Taru why are you so mad?' The voice was small, timid.

How dare he make her Saana timid?

'He can't take you away from me!' She tore open the car door and threw herself into the coupe. The plastic seat was cold.

'What? He can't. Why would he? Taru?'

Taru cranked on the ignition and threw the car into reverse. She backed out, nearly striking another car backing the other direction. She needed to drive. She needed to get away from this death trap. It was going to take Saana, someday, if he didn't take her, and it was going to take Alex, and that shouldn't upset her as much as it did.

'He has been a good friend to us, Taru. What has he done to make you angry?'

The voice became faint as she drove out of range.

'...Taru...?'

'...'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is he really so bad?


	4. Ended

**Ended**  
**1990**

  
Then it was over. Her fears had been right. The signs had been clear.

She got a letter.

It was raining, again. The rain ran down her kitchen window. She sat in the table in her flat in the rain. The houseplant in the windowsill would like it if she set it out to absorb the rainy air. The minerals that came down from the sky. Nitrogen from the lightning strikes. She nursed her cup of coffee.

It was from he himself. Of course it was. They'd found new, younger riders. A whole bunch of them to pave the way for humanity to be wiped out of motorcycling. The faces of the movement. FIA's new little pets. Fuckers. Well, they could have it. They could have every man who found out about their drivers and screamed at them in hallways. Accused them of cheating. Never the drivers. Of course. The matches were at fault.

She sneered. She could remember Alex's face, straining, asking for an explanation of why she was condemning him. She could remember Ezio's face, just sort of puzzled that this was happening. Just wondering what it meant and what to do about it. Ezio was older, though, his career would be completed by the time this happened. By the time the last human champion had seen the podium.

It wouldn't be Saana taking it away, though, would it? No.

They were taking Saana's podium as well.

Like they'd taken Saana's life.

Well fuck them all.

Saana too.

Taru poured another shot of vodka into her coffee. Saana would never have to know.

She took a drink.

And another.

Saana.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What now?
> 
> Is this the end?


	5. Disgarded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Valentino and Rasoio.

**Disgarded**   
**2000**

  
The silver skies always made him a little nostalgic. Perhaps it was caused by the aching in the bones broken over the years in crashes. Perhaps by a certain cast of the light.

Perhaps it was the feel of miniature kisses on his skin.

Alex stood with his hands in his pockets. His face was to the sky. He was 30 years old. He was the defending world champion. This year would be his for the winning as well, he could just feel it. His second championship in the 500cc class. Next year, who knew? He was just getting started.

He smiled.

Two men walked by behind him. Something about them caught his eye. For a moment he had mistaken one of them for Ezio Gianola. He looked again. No, neither of them looked the least bit like Ezio. There was something, though. Then he took a better look. It was that rookie, who'd won the 250cc so dramatically. Undramatically, really. It hadn't been any surprise. He'd taken it like no one else was really on the track. His championship in the 125cc class had been like that, too, hadn't it?

He remembered why the man looked like Ezio. He looked like Ezio standing beside that girl. They'd been together so much, he could barely remember the other girl. The one who'd actually spoken.

His speech hitched for a moment. "Hey!"

The young men turned. Yes.

Same height, same build. One in a helmet, one with waves of long hair around his face.

Not fair, he'd told her.

It hadn't been, had it? No more then than it was now.

The contracts had never changed, even after she left. Everyone knew it was gone, though. The thing that the contracts protected.

When the driver tilted his head, Alex thought quickly about what he wanted to say.

 _It's still not fair. What about the rest of us? You're taking away all we've worked for._ He would be fighting an avalanche now, as he had been, then. It wasn't fair. It had been clearly foretold, though. He had been given a glimpse of the future. Maybe it was a mercy. Maybe he should take the warning.

[Good luck,] they would coming for this boy, now. Ready to disgard him in favor of the next new thing. Just like they had disgarded Taru and Saana, like Alex and all of his kind. [You are going to need it.]

Maybe it was time to think about what to do next. His contract had one year left. It was time to decide what he would do.

Now that he knew he was going to retire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it fair?

**Author's Note:**

> Real People don't belong to me.
> 
> This story is fiction and is no reflection on anyone in it. The story does belong to me, as does the AU in which it is set.
> 
> Please comment, I like comments.


End file.
